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Getting a degree by taking 120 credits of CLEP tests and transferring it?

CLEP itself does not offer degrees – once you get to 120 credits, you’ll have to transfer them to an accredited college or university to be awarded a degree. Excelsior College is an accredited institution that does not have a residency requirement, which means that 100% of your credits can be taken via CLEP examination. In order to graduate, you’ll have to pay ~$1,500 ($75 to apply, $895 to enroll, and $495 to graduate) to become an Excelsior student and have your credits transferred. Once the transfer is complete, you’ll be awarded an accredited undergraduate degree.
Evaluating the CLEP Approach

The total cost of pursing an undergraduate degree in this fashion is ~$4,000. The cost of examinations is approximately $2,500 for 120 credits, plus the $1,500 for transfer to Excelsior. Even if you plan to purchase the CLEP exam books and add some padding if you need to re-take a test, you should spend no more than $5,000 total.

It’s possible to complete this process in less than a year. Assuming you studied full-time, it’s possible to study for and pass a CLEP examination once every two weeks. If you focus on tests that award higher amounts of credit (6/12 vs. 3), you can accumulate 120 credits in less than a year.

In addition to CLEP only offering GenEd type courses, many if not most colleges have residency requirements that require you to take a certain number of credits at their institution before they grant you a degree.

You cannot CLEP out of a degree...however you can test out at Excelsior, TESC or Charter Oak. The tests include CLEP, DSST, TECEP and Excelsior Exams. There are enough upper level units to get you to a BS or BA. The degrees are limited to Liberal Arts or Business, I believe. Degreeinfo.com or bain4weeks.com are good sites to explore if you are in a hurry. Note - each of the three colleges are regionally accredited so no issues with pursuing masters or other post-graduate schooling. You can also test out of University of London for a MBA through their external program. So there are opportunities and from what I read they are affordable...But you will lose out on the college experience by doing this. Also if you are applying for a super exclusive school for a law, medical or other specialty you may not get recognized as much as when graduating from a traditional brick & mortar university.

Colleges aren't bound to obey the letter of every guideline they give. Regardless of what their websites may say, no accredited university will give you a degree for only testing out of courses. And if for some reason they did, it's not like a master's program would not notice this and reject you...

I was able to use CLEP exams and DSST exams to test out of a 90 credits of my degree, and am completing the rest of it through TECEP exams and online courses at Thomas Edison State College. It is a fully accredited degree, and I know of others that have done the same and have been accepted into top graduate programs.

what's education come to if the end and how fast and easy you get there is all that matters? congrats op, you've demonstrated that you learned very little in a social setting. oh, and you'll have a piece of paper with your name on it in fancy letters.

Many on this forum pursue an education based on testing for credits. Some of the more voicey ones follow this belief (a post by the most recent poster):

"...Not saying that nobody ever learns anything by traditional college or that all college professors are wackos, but I firmly believe that I have learned more about the subjects I have studied by taking tests in less than 2 weeks time - learning all about the different sides of the material with an unbiased approach; than spending 3-4 months in a classroom being taught almost always with a biased approach to the studying material....The non-traditional way lets you be able to finish faster, finish cheaper, finish more learned, and finish with your same identity without compromising your beliefs."

I've been watching it but there isn't much opposition (I think there were a few posters?) as the traditional population is low. So what do dear CC kids have to say to this? Think they are sacrificing something? Think it is something you yourself would consider pursuing?

I have been looking into taking CLEP exams to cut my time down in getting a degree. I have already been in business (with my husband, started a business, wrote proposals to get contracts, hired and fired people, expanded then moved the whole operation out of the country, sold it). Now I am working in a corporate environment and not getting anywhere. The "higher ups" stress very strongly the importance of a degree. So I need that piece of paper to "prove to them that I have a brain", I guess. Even though I know many people with degrees - and quite frankly, I'm not impressed. So the social thing about going to a college, I can do without. If I could CLEP my way to a degree in a year or two, I'll do it. I'm too old to be messing around. I just want to move up in my current career.

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